


Outsiders

by Shining_Friendship



Category: The Crown (TV)
Genre: Canon Rewrite, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Why Did I Write This?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-10
Updated: 2020-12-10
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:08:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,140
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27998028
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shining_Friendship/pseuds/Shining_Friendship
Summary: Prince Philip pitied Diana and did his best to comfort her, for they were both outsiders who married into the family, but she needed more
Relationships: Diana Princess of Wales/Philip Duke of Edinburgh
Comments: 9
Kudos: 20





	Outsiders

**Author's Note:**

> Please note that I do not ship these two IRL. I only ship them on the show because of the chemistry that the actors shared.

Nothing.

That was how Diana, Princess of Wales, felt in one word. She was wasting away into nothing, laying here alone on her bed. She was drowning in an ocean of misery, and no one could even bother to notice or care. A knock at the door suddenly took the young woman out of her thoughts, as the blonde got up.

"Come," she announced, fixing the sleeves of her cream sweater to make herself look more presentable to the unannounced guest.

"Hello..." came a familiar voice from the other side of the opened door.

His Royal Highness Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, appeared before her. Diana curtsied to him out of respect.

The older gentleman raised his hand, however, and motioned it for her to stop. There was no need for her to stand on ceremony in such a private setting. "Oh, please, no."

"I, uh," he stammered, "I came to see if you're alright."

She said nothing, her silence speaking volumes to him. He decided to switch gears and change the subject.

"Do you know I...?" Philip started to ask and took in all of the surroundings. "I don't think I've ever seen inside this room."

They both let out a light giggle, but the feeling didn't reach her blue eyes. Diana had always appreciated his humor and kindness, two qualities that made her father-in-law so easy to be around. But not even that, she feared, could lift her spirits. Charles, and their disaster of a marriage, had taken everything from her. Even her ability to feel joy.

"We can be a rough bunch in this family," he informed her, twisting his arms behind his back to clasp his hands together and stand up straighter.

The blonde stepped forward and pressed her hands against the wooden bedpost, as if doing so would relieve her tension, still unable to say a thing.

"I'm sure, on occasion, to a sensitive creature like you, it must feel like..." Philip found himself trailing off, at a loss for the right words. "Well, let me ask, what does it feel like?"

Diana looked away for a few seconds, but what she said rang automatic and true. "A cold, frozen tundra."

"Right," he nodded. "Like that, then."

"An icy, dark, loveless cave..." she persisted, walking towards a nearby chair and sitting on the armrest. "With no light, no hope anywhere... not even the faintest crack."

Taken aback by her honesty, he stepped towards her. "I see."

Philip stared down at his young daughter-in-law, studying the somber expression on her beautiful face. "He will come around. He will. Eventually. When he realizes he can never have the other one."

She could only blink, unconvinced by his thoughts on the matter.

"Would it help you to realize we all think he's quite mad?" the prince consort wondered with a small smile, trying his pitch again.

The blonde could see he was doing his best to comfort her, to offer her some sort of peace, yet she knew it was futile and made no attempt to hide it. "That might've reassured me once, but I worry we're past that point now, sir."

Diana rose and took a few steps away, unconsciously giving herself much-needed space. "And if he—if this family can't give me the love and security that I _feel_ I deserve, then I believe I have no option but to break away. Officially. And find it myself."

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Philip advised, his tone turning brash.

" _Why not_?" she retorted, not realizing how sharp her own voice was until after the fact.

"Let's just say, I can't see it ending well for you."

His mood had darkened by the dramatic shift in their conversion. Her husband's royal family truly was a black hole, draining the life out of everyone around them. She felt more alone than ever.

Swallowing the hard lump that was forming in the back of her throat, she cocked her head to the side in nervousness. "I hope that isn't a threat, sir."

There was another knock on the door, this time from a servant, but Philip would have none of it. "Not now," he barked, shooing him away. "Out!"

Having come this far into unknown territory, Diana would not be deterred from expressing herself any longer. She watched as the older gentleman shut the bedroom door and stood there, collecting his thoughts. When he walked back towards her a few moments later, she also stepped closer to him, finding her bearings.

"Although we are both outsiders who married in, you and I are _quite_ different."

"Yes," Philip confessed, wide-eyed and breathing heavily, as if he was drawing in a profound conclusion. "I can see that now."

His theatrics almost scared her, made her feel meek and timid. This was the same man who had shown her such flare and affection the day they went hunting together. Her only ally in this ghastly family. Was it all for show? Would he only act this way towards her as long as she conformed to the proper practices of being Princess of Wales?

"You're right to call me an outsider," he continued, his voice a sliver softer than before. "I was an outsider the day that I met the... the 13-year-old princess who would one day become my wife."

His feet moved to their own accord, while the space between them grew nallower and the air in the room got thicker.

"After all these years, I still am."

Then, out of nowhere, the atomsphere changed. Diana didn't know who initiated it, but the small gap disappeared and they were in each other's arms. Kissing. It wasn't a kiss between in-laws, or between two individuals who regarded themselves as father and daughter. No, it was hot, heavy, full of passion. The blonde threw everything into that moment—rage, love, anguish, curiousity, thrill. Denied such emotions for so long now, it came pouring out of her like a waterfall. And from the way he was responding, kissing her back with equal fervor, the feelings must have somehow been mutual. _They were both outsiders._ His arms wrapped around her slender frame, tender hands caressing her through the woolly fabric. She raked her fingers through his finely combed hair and tilted her head back, granting him even more access, when his lips traveled to her neck. He kissed and sucked on the delicate skin with zeal. Her fingertips deftly ran down his white dress shirt as he bit her earlobe.

"Philip..." she sighed his name.

Not a second later, his body siffened and he stopped. The Duke of Edinburgh detangled himself from her. He took two steps back, his worried eyes comprehending what they had done. And just like that, Prince Philip—along with all of the warmth he enveloped her in—was gone.


End file.
